Monterey Coal Mine #2 Site: Fact Sheet #1

              Monterey Coal Mine #2 Site
Fact Sheet #1
October 2002
Albers, Illinois
Introduction
This fact sheet has been prepared by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA). This
fact sheet is intended to address concerns about Lead, Cadmium, Beryllium, Chromium, Arsenic,
Mercury and Nickel originating from the coal waste piles at the Monterey No. 2 Mine, near Albers. In
addition, the clean up activities being undertaken by Monterey Coal Company (Monterey) and its parent
company Exxon- Mobil, to protect the environment will be discussed.
Background
Monterey Coal Company (Monterey) operated the No. 2 Mine in Clinton County, near Albers, Illinois,
from April 1977 until August 1996. The operations included coal extraction, coal processing and coal
slurry and refuse (mine waste) disposal. The entire No. 2. Mine site occupies approximately 1,400 acres
of land, with the waste piles comprising about 300 acres of the total. The No. 2 mine was operated as
an underground coal mining facility under permits issued by the Office of Mines and Minerals of the
Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
Do the metals
listed above occur
in the Monterey
No. 2 mine coal
waste?
Two samples of coal waste were collected by the Illinois EPA. The analytical results
from these samples confirmed that all of the metals listed above do occur in the
coal waste.
Do the metals
listed above occur
naturally?
Natural occurrence of these metals at low concentrations is very common. In 1994
the Illinois EPA summarized data from 275 sites in the state in a document entitled
“A Summary of Selected Background Conditions for Inorganics in
Soil” (IEPA/ENV/94- 161). At least one site from every county was used. All of the
metals listed above were included in the assessment. Because there are also
anthropogenic (man made) sources for these metals, such as smelters and leaded
gasoline, the results of the assessment represent current conditions, or the
background, at a site. Unknown sources of these contaminants may have increased
the concentrations of these metals at some sites. However, known sources, other
than deposits from the air, have not affected the soils’ metal concentrations at
the sites assessed. Of the seven metals listed above, arsenic and lead were present
in the soil at every site where testing was done for those two metals. Cadmium,
beryllium, chromium, mercury and nickel had variable Illinois Office of Community
Relations October 2002 Environmental P.O. Box 19276 Protection Agency
Springfield, Illinois 62794-9276 2 Printed on Recycled Paper concentrations, with
some sites having no detectable concentrations. In the soil samples taken from the
mine waste, all seven of the metals listed above had concentrations within the
range of the background samples from the assessment. That means the
concentrations of these metals in the coal waste are similar to what could be found
in any soil in the state.
Are the
concentrations of
these metals in
the coal waste
dangerous to
human health?
The analyses conducted by the Illinois EPA did not detect any of the seven metals at
concentrations exceeding residential soil clean up levels. The residential soils clean
up levels are established at concentrations that would protect people from harm as
they carry on day-to-day activities in their homes or yards. Therefore, the coal
waste should not cause negative health effects from the above listed metals.
What are the
environmental
The environmental concerns at the No.2 Mine currently exist in two forms. There is
sometimes dust which blows from the uncovered top of the coal waste. Also,
Fact Sheet #1 - Monterey Coal Mine #2 Page 1 of 5
http://www.epa.state.il.us/community-relations/fact-sheets/monterey-mine/monterey-mine-... 5/24/2012